USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > The History of Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, 1836 > Part 17
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The majority of the town, as appears from a vote passed February 3, 1812, opposed the division. The votes were 18 for, and 328 against, the measure. At the same meeting also, James Ellis, Esq., and Mr. Thomas Kennicut, were chosen agents by the town to oppose, at the General Court, the divi- ding of the town.
March 16, 1812. The town voted to raise $400 for school- ing, and $200 for military stores ; and also voted " that the school money be divided according to the number of children (or inhabitants) under twenty-one years of age."
In 1813, $400 were raised for schools, $100, for military stores, and $1200, for the support of the poor. In 1814, the same sums were raised for schools and for military stores.
In 1815, $450 were raised for schools ; and in 1816, 1817, and 1818, $600 were raised yearly for the same purpose.
In 1819, the town " voted to raise $600 for grammar, and common schools, including money received for school land and the interest on school notes."
168
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
The same sum was raised from the years 1820 to 1824 in- clusive, and has been about the average sum raised yearly since, though perhaps somewhat increased for the last few years.
A list of the Deputies to the Court of Plymouth, and of the Representatives to the General Court of Massachusetts, with the names of the Town Clerks who have served the town at different periods, so far as they can be obtained, will close the civil history of Rehoboth.
LIST OF THE DEPUTIES TO PLYMOUTH COURT FROM REHOBOTH.
1646, Walter Palmer.
1662,
Henry Smith.
1647,
Stephen Paine.
1663,
Stephen Paine.
John Doggett.
1664, Peter Hunt, Stephen Paine.
1649,
Stephen Paine.
1665,
Peter Hunt,
4
Robert Titus,
Stephen Paine.
1650,
Stephen Paine.
Stephen Paine,
1651,
Richard Bowen.
1667,
Henry Smith.
1652,
Stephen Paine, Thomas Cooper.
1668,
Henry Smith.
1653,
Thomas Cooper.
1669, Philip Walker,
Stephen Paine,
Nicholas Peck.
1654,
Peter Hunt.
Stephen Paine,
1655,
Stephen Paine, Peter Hunt.
1671,
William Sabin.
1656,
William Carpenter.
Peter Hunt,
1657,
William Sabin.
1673,
Anthony Perry. ·
1658,
Stephen Paine, Thomas Cooper.
1674,
Daniel Smith.
1659,
Stephen Paine, William Sabin.
1675,
Daniel Smith.
1660,
Peter Hunt.
Daniel Smith,
1661,
William Sabin,
1676,
Nathaniel Paine.
Peter Hunt.
1670,
William Sabin.
Stephen Paine,
Stephen Paine,
1672,
Daniel Smith.
Stephen Paine,
1666,
Jams Brown.
Stephen Paine,
Peter Hunt,
Robert Titus,
Peter Hunt,
Walter Palmer,
S Peter Hunt,
1648, Robert Titus,
Peter Hunt,
Stephen Paine,
Peter Hunt,
Ensign Henry Smith,
Ensign Henry Smith.
William Sabin,
169
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
1677,
Nathaniel Paine, Daniel Smith.
1685,
Lieut. Nicholas Peck, > Gilbert Brooks.
1678,
Nicholas Peck.
1686,
Lieut. Peck, Gilbert Brooks.
1679,
Gilbert Brooks.
1688,
1680,
Nicholas Peck, Peter Hunt.
1689,
Lieut. Nicholas Peck, Samuel Peck.
1681,
Ensign Nicholas Peck, Gilbert Brooks.
1690, Gilbert Brooks, Christopher Saunders.
1682,
Ensign Nicholas Peck, Capt. Peter Hunt.
1691, Christopher Saunders, John Woodcock.
1683,
Ensign Nicholas Peck, Capt. Peter Hunt.
1692,
Christopher Saunders, Mr. Samuel Peck.
1684,
Lieut. Nicholas Peck, Gilbert Brooks,
LIST OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS.
1693,* Mr. Samuel Peck, Joseph Browne.
1717, Mr. Nathan Browne. 1718, Mr. Daniel Smith, Esq. 1719, 1 miel Carpenter.
1694, Stephen Paine.
1695, Dea. Samuel Peck."
1720, Daniel Carpenter. 172 . Mr. Jethnial Peck.
1697, Dea. Samuel Newman.
1742 Mr. Jethnial Peck.
1698, Dea. Samuel Newman.
17¿3, Mr. Jethnial Peck .~
1699, John Hunt.
1724, Mr. Francis Willson.
1700, Mr. John Peck ..-
1725, Mr. Joseph Peck. ~ 1726, Mr. Jetlinial Peck.
1702, Serj. Moses Reade.
1727, Mr. Jethnial Peck.
1703, Stephen Paine.
1728, Mr. Jethnial Peck.
1704, Benjamin Allen.
1729, Mr. Jethnial Peck. 1730, Mr. Jathniel Peck.
1705, Col. Samuel Walker. 1706,
1731, Mr. Jathniel Peck.
1707, John Brooks.
1732, Samuel Browne, Esq.
1708, Ensign Moses Reade.
1733, Mr. James Bowen.
1709, Mr. Daniel Smith.
1710, Ensign Timothy Ide.
1734, Mr. James Bowen. 1735, Mr. John Hunt. 1736, Mr. Joseph Peck. -
1712, Lieut. Noah Peck.
1737, Mr. James Bowen.
1713, Lieut. Moses Reade.
1738, Mr. Joseph Bosworth.
1714, Lieut. Moses Reade.
1739, Mr. Jonathan Kingsley.
1715, Lieut. Moses Reade.
1740, Mr. Joseph Peck.
1716, Capt. Moses Reade.
1741, Mr. Daniel Barney.
* Plymouth Colony was annexed to Massachusetts by the charter of Wil- liam and Mary, in 1692.
22
Daniel Smith,
Nicholas Peck,
1687,
1696, Dea. Samuel Newman.
1701,
1711, Mr. Daniel Smith."
170
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH,
1742, Capt. Joseph Wheaton.
1743, Mr. Daniel Barney.
1744, Capt. Dan. Carpenter.
1745, Mr. Daniel Barney.
1746, Mr. Daniel Barney.
1747, Mr. Daniel Barney.
1748, Dan. Carpenter, Esq.
1749, Mr. Daniel Barney.
1750, Mr. Nathaniel Smith.
1751, Mr. Nathaniel Smith.
1795, Stephen Bullock, Esq.
1796, Stephen Bullock, Esq.
1797, Hon. Phanuel Bishop, Esq.
1754, Mr. Aaron Kingsley.
1798, Phanuel Bishop.
1755,
Capt. Aaron Kingsley.
1799, Frederick Drowne.
1756,
Capt. Aaron Kingsley.
1800,
Frederick Drowne.
1757,
Capt. Timothy Walker.
1801, Frederick Drowne.
1758,
Capt. Timothy Walker.
1802, Frederick Drowne.
1759,
Capt. Timothy Walker.
1803, Frederick Drowne.
1804, Frederick Drown.
1761,
Mr. Noah Sabin, jun.
1762,
Aaron Kingsley, Esq.
1763,
Capt. James Clay.
1764, Capt. James Clay.
1765,
Capt. James Clay.
1766,
Capt. James Clay,
1767,
Capt. James Clay.
1768, Capt. James Clay.
1769,
Capt. James Clay.
John Medbury, -
1770,
Capt. Joseph Barney.
Sebray Lawton.
1771, Capt. Joseph Barney.
1772,
Capt. Joseph Barney.
1773,
Capt. Joseph Barney.
1774,
1775, S Mr. Epli. Starkweather, Capt. Thomas Carpenter.
1776, 1777,
S Mr. Eph. Starkweather, Col. Shubael Peck.
Hezekiah Martin,
1813, Joseph Wheaton, Samuel Bliss, 2d.
1814, Peter Carpenter.
1815, Dr. James Bliss.
1816, Dr. James Bliss.
1817, Jeremiah Wheeler.
1818, Thomas Carpenter, 2d.
1819, David Perry.
1820, Dr. James Bliss.
1821, David Perry.
1822, none.
1823, none.
1824, Lemuel Morse.
Capt. Phanuel Bishop,
1788, Major Frederick Drown, Capt. John Bishop.
1789, Major Frederick Drown.
1790, Major Frederick Drown.
179], Major Frederick Drown.
1792, Hon. Phanuel Bishop. Esq.
1793, Hon. Phannel Bishop, Esq.
1794, Phanuel Bishop, Esq.
1752 Mr. Israel Nichols.
1760,
Mr. Noah Sabin, jun.
1806, David Perry jun.
1807, Elkanalı French, jr.
1808, Elkanah French, jun.
1809, Peter Hunt.
David Perry, L
Elkanah French,
1810, 3
Elkanah French,
Timothy Walker,
1811, { John Medbury, Sebray Lawton,
Caleb Abell.
Samuel Bliss,
1812, 3 Hezekiah Martin, Joseplı Wheaton.
1778,
1779,
1780, Mr. S. Peck.
S Shubael Peck, Esq.
1781, 3 Mr. Daniel Carpenter.
1782, Capt. Stephen Bullock.
S Stephen Bullock, Esq.
1783, 3 Daniel Carpenter, Esq.
1784, Stephen Bullock, Esq.
1785, Stephen Bullock, Esq.
1786, Stephen Bullock, Esq. Mr. Phanuel Bishop,
1787, < Mr. Frederick Drown, Mr. William Winsor.
-
-
Timothy Walker,
1805, David Perry.
1753, Mr. Israel Nichols.
171
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
1825, Lemuel Morse.
1831, none.
1826, none.
1832, Lloyd Bosworth.
1827, Joseph Nichols.
1833, Lloyd Bosworth.
1828, Joseph Nichols,
S Lloyd Bosworth,
Samuel Bullock,
1834, Samuel Bullock.
1829, Caleb Cushing,
1835, none.
Joseph Nichols. Samuel Bullock.
1830, Caleb Cushing,
Joseph Nichols.
LIST OF . SENATORS FROM REHOBOTH.
178], Hon. Eph. Starkweather, Esq. 1789, Hon. Phanuel Bishop.
1782, Hon. Eph. Starkweather, Esq. 1790, Hon. Phanuel Bishop.
1783, Hon Eph. Starkweather, Esq. 1807, Hon. David Perry.
1788, Hon. Phanuel Bishop. | 1808, Hon. David Perry.
TOWN CLERKS.
No Town Clerk is mentioned by name in the town records till the year 1651, when Peter Hunt was chosen to the office. But previous to this date the records appear to have been writ- ten by the same hand ; and it appears from various returns n.ade by the town clerk and on record at Plymouth, that the first who filled that office in Rehoboth was William Carpenter, and that he retained it from the date of the commencement of the town records in October, 1643 till 1649, when Mr. Hunt was proba bly chosen .*
Richard Bowen was chosen town clerk in September, 1654 ; Richard Bullock, in January 1659, and agreed to perform the office "for 16s. a year, and to be paid for births, burials, and marriages besides." William Carpenter (probably son of Wil- liam Carpenter who served at first,) was chosen town clerk in May, 1668, and served, with the exception of 1693, when Stephen Paine supplied his place, till March, 1703. Daniel Carpenter was chosen in 1703, and held the office 3 years. In March 1706 Daniel Smith was chosen, and in March 1708 Daniel Carpenter was again chosen, and continued to fill the office till 1730. In 1730 Ezekiel Read was chosen, and continued in the office, with the exception of 1751, 1752, and 1753, till 1762. In March 1762 Jesse Perrin was chosen, and continued till 1787. In March 1787 Lieut. (afterwards Capt.)
* See note, page 42.
1836, S Capt. Richard Goff, Jr.
2 Abel Hoar.
172
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
Philip Walker was chosen town clerk, and filled the office till 1801, when Capt. Caleb Abell was chosen, and continued till the division of the town in 1812, when he fell within the limits of Seekonk, where he has since been continued in the same office. In 1812 James Blanding Esq. was chosen town clerk, and has filled the office to the present time.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
THE civil and ecclesiastical affairs of the town were, in the early part of our history, so inseparably interwoven, that we have already anticipated much of what properly belongs to this division. The history of the first established church in Rehoboth (now the First Congregational Church in Seekonk,) has already been much of it given : the remainder will be found under the history of Seekonk. Under this division will be given an account of the First Congregational Church in Reho- both (formerly the second), and of the numerous Baptist church- es which have at different times been organized here.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
In the year 1711 the inhabitants of the south-east part of the town, called the " Neighbourhood of Palmer's river," petitioned the General Court to have the town divided into two precincts, for the support of the ministry, and that each division support a minister. This measure the people in the other and older part of the town opposed by a petition which has been mentioned at page 134. In May, 1713, the General Court recommended to Rehoboth to raise £120 for the support of two ministers,-one at Palmer's river. In 1717, the Court granted permission to the people at Palmer's river to build a meeting-house in their part of the town. This house was commenced in 1717, and stood on a small elevation about half a mile north-west of the Orleans factory : the spot is sometimes called now Burying-place Hill. Jethnial Peck, Capt Samuel Peck, and Jonathan Bliss, gave, March 27, 1717, each an acre of land for the site of the meet- ing-house. The town relinquished, for their aid, £50 of the £250 which had been voted for the erection of a new meeting-
174
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
house in the older part of the town. This grant was made, however, with the proviso, that the town should be freed from all further expense in erecting the Palmer's river meeting- house. The following individuals of the " Neighborhood of Palmer's river" entered into an engagement, in writing, to free the town, on the receipt of the £50, from all further expenses that might otherwise accrue to it from the building of the meet- ing-house :
& Samuel Peck,
-Jethnial Peck,
Thomas Bliss, William Blanding,
Joshua Smith,
Daniel Blanding,
Samuel Bliss,
Solomon Peck,
Lennox Beverly,
Benjamin Willson,
Nathaniel Smith, Joshua Smith, jr.
Thomas Ormsbee,
Jonathan Bliss,
Samuel Whitaker,
Ichabod Peck, Ephraim Millard, William Marten,
Abraham Carpenter, Solomon Millard,
Jacob Bliss.
This congregation at Palmer's river received also, as a present from the " community " for erecting the new meeting-house in the west part of the town (now Seekonk,) the pulpit and the facing of the galleries of their old meeting-house. This new meeting-house was completed in 1720 or 1721 ; and a church was organized, November 29, 1721, consisting of ten members, (all males),* under the pastoral care of the Rev. David Turner, a native of Scituate. The business of the two churches and societies was, by vote of the town, of March 13, 1721, " man- aged by the town as the affairs of one church," and " the expen- ses of both were to be borne by the whole town." They con- tinued to be managed thus till the year 1759. Mr. Turner received for a settlement £100. His salary at first was £70; in 1728 it was increased to £100 : in 1736 it was £70; and in 1739, £100. During his ministry, which continued about thirty-six years, one hundred and seventy persons were, by
* Their names were, David Turner, (pastor,) Elisha May, Thomas Ormsby, (deacons,) Jethniel Peck, Samuel Peck, Benjamin Willson, Solomon Millard. Samuel Fuller, William Blanding, Joseph Willson.
175
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
profession and recommendation, added to the church .* Mr. Turner graduated at Harvard in 1718. On leaving the univer- sity, he first studied medicine, which he occasionally practised after entering the ministry. He was a man of talent, of much shrewd wit, but singular and eccentric. He had several chil- dren, who inherited their father's ready wit ; but his sons were in general profligate, and the name here is now extinct. He died August 9th, 1757, in the 63d year of his age, and was buried in his church-yard, the "Old Burying-place." His tombstone, which stands near the eastern side of the church- yard, about an equal distance from the north and south ends, bears the following inscription :
" In Memory of the Reverend Mr. DAVID TURNER, Pastor of the Second Church in Rehoboth, who departed this Life on ye 9th Day of
August, AD. 1757, in ye 63d Year of his Age. " Watch and Pray because You know not the hour."
In his last illness Mr. Turner sent for the Rev. Robert Roger- son, who had been employed to preach to his congregation since he had become incapable through illness and infirmities, and said to him : " Mr. Rogerson, I rejoice to find that the people are so well pleased with you and your preaching ; but you must remember that, though it is ' Hosanna !' ' Hosanna !' to-day it will be ' Crucify him !' ' Crucify him!' to-morrow."
He lived in the house where his successor, Mr. Rogerson, since lived, and where the family of the late Capt. John Roger- son, the son of the latter, now resides.
This church and congregation was incorporated by an act of the General Court, passed January 2, 1759, into a separate society, by the name of " the Second Precinct in Rehoboth." The first meeting of the precinct was held February 12th, of
* For some of the facts given in the account of this church I am indebted to a sermon preached on its centennial anniversary by the Rev. Otis Thompson, its minister at that time.
176
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
the same year, when William Bullock was chosen Precinct clerk, and Dea. Thomas Carpenter, Dea. Moulton, Stephen Moulton, Lieut. Ephraim Hunt, Capt. Nathaniel Bliss, and William Blanding, Precinct Committee.
February 26, 1759, the precinct concurred with the church in the choice of the Rev. Robert Rogerson for their minister, and voted to give him £75 settlement, to be paid in equal sums of £25 yearly, for three years, and £60 yearly for his regular salary.
Mr. Rogerson was ordained over the church and society, July 2, 1759. His salary varied from £60 to £93 yearly.
March 18, 1773, the precinct " voted that the old meeting house should be sold, or pulled down, provided that a new one can be built upon the plaine near Timothy Readways."
May 9, 1773. " Voted to build a new meeting-house, 50 feet long and 40 feet wide." "Likewise chose Capt. Thomas Carpenter, Capt. Joshua Smith, Mr. Daniel Bliss, jr. Mr. Isaac Brown, Mr. John Brown, 2d, Ensign Ezra Perry, Mr. Thomas Baldwin, Mr. Ephraim Bliss, Mr. Nathaniel Bliss, jr., a com- mittee to carry on and see to the building of the above meeting house.
Thomas Carpenter, 3d, presented a plan for the meeting house, which was accepted, with some slight alterations. It was voted to sell the pews to the highest bidder ; and, October 25, 1773, they were sold at public auction, for between £5 and £15 each.
In 1776 a large and valuable legacy was bequeathed to the precinct, in trust, for the support of the pastor of the church, by Lieut Ephraim Hunt. This bequest is supposed to have been worth about $ 10,000.
In 1792, an act was passed by the General Court, " to repeal an act, entitled ' An act to invest the Committee of the Second Precinct in Rehoboth with corporate powers for certain purposes therein mentioned,' and to incorporate a number of the inhabit- ants of said Precinct, by the name of the Catholic Congrega- tional Church and Society in the second precinct in the town of Rehoboth."
The Rev. Robert Rogerson, the second pastor of this church, died March 20, 1799, in the seventy-eighth year of his age.
* Mr. Readway lived on the farm, since the residence of the late Dr. James Bliss.
177
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
He had been pastor about forty years, during which time thirty- six persons had been added to the church.
Mr. Rogerson was the son of Robert Rogerson, and was born at Portsmouth (England), of a respectable family ; and at the age of four years was removed to London, where, or in the vicinity of which, he received his education ; but whether at Cambridge, or in the metropolis, is not ascertained. At the age of nineteen he came to America, as an assistant to a collector of the revenue, and in this capacity served one year in Virginia. After this he taught school for several years on the eastern shore of Virginia, prosecuting, in the mean time, the study of divinity. He then came to New England. In 1765 he receiv- ed the degree of Master of Arts at the university of Cambridge, Mass. He commenced his ministry at Brookline, where he preached one year. He then came to Rehoboth, and preached a year for the first Congregational church, in what is now See- konk. The year following he commenced preaching for the Congregational church in the west part of the town, and was ordained minister of this church, July 2, 1759. While preach- ing in what is now Seekonk, he became acquainted with, and married, the daughter of Col. Thomas Bowen of the same place, then Mrs. Betsey Sweet, a young widow with one child .* Their family numbered three sons and three daughters. The names of the sons were, Robert, Thomas, and John. Robert was for many years a respectable physician in Boston, and died a few years since in Attleborough. Thomas became a wealthy planter in Virginia, and died in 1833. Capt. John Rogerson, who lived on the paternal inheritance of his father, died in 1835. Of his daughters, Lydia, the eldest, now Mrs. Bullock, widow of Mr. Eleazer Bullock, late of Rehoboth, alone survives. Another daughter married Mr. Charles D'Wolf of Bristol, Rhode Island.
Mr. Rogerson was a man of much learning, and faithful in the discharge of his duties as a minister and a christian. Under his ministry his church and society were prosperous and united.
The successor of Mr. Rogerson was the Rev. Otis Thompson. He was born at Middleborough, (Mass.) Sept. 14, 1776, and graduated at Brown University in 1798. He was immediately appointed tutor in that institution, and filled the office two years.
* Afterwards the wife of Capt. Joseph Wheaton of Rehoboth. She died in 1835 at a very advanced age distinguished for her piety and christian virtues.
23
178
HISTORY OF REHOBOTHi.
He then directed his attention to the study of divinity. On the death of Mr. Rogerson, after having supplied the pulpit as a candidate, one year, he was invited by the church and society to become their pastor, and was ordained September 24, 1800, For a long time after his settlement, Mr. Thompson's services as a pastor and preacher were highly acceptable to his church and society, and no less succcessful and beneficial; and a degree of union and harmony prevailed, which might have just- ly excited for this church the envy of many of its sister church- es. During the first twenty-one years of his ministry, seventy seven persons were added to the church. The total number of persons, that, in 1821,-a century from its organization, had been enrolled in the list of its members, was three hundred and three. The number of members in 1821 was fifty-six, of whom eighteen were males, and thirty-eight females .* The year 1800 is noticed by Mr. Thompson in his century sermon, as a period of more than usual attention to the concerns and duties of reli- gion. Forty individuals were added to the church, which, consid- ering the the number of families then belonging to the society, which did not exceed fifty, was a great addition for one year.
In 1825 the harmony of the church and society was disturbed by the commencement of a series of difficulties which have kept in a state of commotion the society and a majority of the town for much of the time since: but it is devoutly to be hoped, both for the honour and welfare of the town, that these difficul- ties are now at an end. The result of these dissensions was the exclusion of Mr. Thompson from his pastoral office.
To give the history of these difficulties, in minute detail, would occupy too much space, and what might be devoted to better purposes ; and, in addition to this, their recent occur- rence, the personalities which their recital must involve, and the delicate circumstances of their origin, are a more than suf- ficient apology for passing them over briefly.
Some unpleasant circumstances having occurred between Mr. Thompson and one of the members of the church, (or rather between their families), the other members of the church at- tempted a reconciliation, but to no purpose. For the breach continued daily to widen, and in a short time the whole church, with the exception of one member, who left, and joined a neigh- bouring church, had taken sides either with the pastor or with
*Mr. Thompson's Century Sermon, p. 19.
179
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
the member first mentioned. Two or three ecclesiastical coun- cils were called on the part of the members disaffected with Mr. Thompson, who decided that the pastoral relations between him and his church ought to cease. The society also voted "to dismiss the Rev. Otis Thompson from his pastoral relation with said society." The meeting-house was then closed against him, and another minister was procured by the society to supply their desk. Mr. Thompson continued to preach regularly every Sab- bath to a small number that assembled in a school-house near his residence, and finally brought an action against the society for the recovery of his salary from the time of his dismissal : the case was decided in his favour. At length an accommoda- tion was agreed upon between him and the society, he agreeing for the sum of $1,000, to relinquish all further claims on the society. Attempts have since been made on the part of Mr. Thompson and his friends, but without success, to revive the old precinct, and wrest from the church and society a part or the whole of the funds which are now in their possession. The income of these funds is about adequate to the support of one minister.
Mr. Thompson, at the time of his ordination, had 'a hun- dred pounds settlement,' and was to receive an annual salary of $$350. In 1816 his salary was increased to $500.
Mr. Thompson's first wife was Miss Rachel Chandler of Plympton (Mass.), who died Sept. 16, 1827, aged 47, and by whom he had four sons and five daughters. September 30, 1828, he married Miss Charlotte Fales, of Bristol, R. I. Mr. Thompson has had, in years past, fifteen or twenty students in divinity, has had printed several funeral and ordination sermons, and published, about ten years since, " A Review of Mr. Andras's Essay on Divine Agency." He commenced the " Hopkinsian Magazine," a monthly of 24 pages Svo., in Jan. 1824, as sole editor and proprietor, and continued it with the omission of one year (1830), till the close of 1832,-making four large Svo. volumes.
The successor of Mr. Thompson, and the present pastor of the church, is the Rev. Thomas Vernon, a native of Newport, R. I., and son of the late Samuel Vernon. He graduated at Brown University in 1816, studied theology at Andover Seminary, was licenced to preach in 1822, and ordained over this church, Sep- tember 13, 1826. In 1831 he married Miss Adelaide A. Win throp, of Bristol, R. I.
180
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH.
The church and society, at the commencement of his ministry here, were in a distracted and divided state. Brother had been set against brother, and the harsh voice of discord had nearly drowned the " still small voice" of the religion of Prince of Peace. But, by prudent and judicious management, union and harmony were in some measure soon restored, and the religious concerns of the people assumed a more prosperous and agreea- ble aspect. Bible-classes were formed, and two Sabbath schools organized, one of which has already a good library.
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